Tuesday, 9 December 2014

The path of the storm showing how close it passed to Isla Verde.
In this image from PAGASA is looks like it is directly over the resort at 11pm Monday

And in this satellite image you can see the swirling clouds. By this time we were lucky. After crossing land at Samar and Masbate Ruby was no longer a super typhoon and by the time she got closer to Verde Ialnd she was just a normal typhoon with the usual amount of wind and rain.

Wow, what an exciting few days as Super Typhoon Ruby began heading towards our little resort. First, everything had to be tied down and
loose items moved inside. Personal items from the kubos had to be put
somewhere safe, because if the typhoon hit at full strength, there was
the risk that they would be severely damaged.

The stone buildings though, the cafe and the units are designed with tropical storms in mind, because these storms happen often iin the tropics. It is just a fact of life, like typhoons and earthquakes in japan and so many other countries in our part of the world. Of course, with all the hard work recently done on the gardens, there was the prospect of having to start all over again.

This is where our faith shines. Every years, somewhere in these beautiful

islands, the hand of nature is raised as if to spank us like naughty children. And every year, almost every Filipino prays to ask that the hand of God will be raised also in an attempt to protect as many of his children as he can.

And this time again, our prayers seem to be answered.

Nanay Jo is still checking everything, with much help from Ninio, who
stayed to help protect the resort and the animals through the storm. So
far is seems most of the structures are fine, but there will be a lot
to clean up and some replanting in the gardens.

Preparation for Christmas celebrations begins early in the Philippines and continue through the season. Even as early as September people begin to decorate homes, roads and other establishemnts.

Here at out resort we have also begun our Christmas preparations. We have lanterns made of plastic in the shape of pineapples and circles with different colours. Again this year we have a Christmas tree and this year, because we have some solar power, we will have some Christmas lights. We also have Christmas balls and other decorations in gold ans silver around our cottages. All day the decorations are glowing like xmas lights.

In the last week of November Paolo arrived to do more landscaping. He planted various trees such as the Hawaiian Palm Tree, Coral Tree, Golden Coconut tree, Maki tree and diffrent types of Tulips, Bougainvillea and Santan. It is beautidul to behold and many people are visiting just to take photos of our landscaped gardens.

The roof is now covering the first of the stone units that will become home for our guests in the near future.

After the southwest monsoon season, the wind turns to the north, and we no longer have the big waves and rough seas of the habagat. At this time we often look out across calm seas and the resort is a place of cool breezes again. Today, the temperature at Isla is only 25c, which is cold and pretty chilly for us Filipinoes, but beautiful weather for overseas visitors and guests. Even without air conditioning or fans, taking a nap in our kubo is delightful because of the northerly breeze, even if this year we sometimes have cold rain.

The traditional Filipino house was a hut made of bamboo poles and palm with the bamboo also woven into matting for the walls and cut into slats for the floor and bed, and the palm fronds used to make a thatched roof. Around the hut is a garden of plants and flowers. This is how the kubos at the resort are made.

This month also, the workers started building the first of the units made of stone and cement. Now the roof is on. When it is finished it will house our clients and international visitors. The units are 25 square metres each and each has a living room and dining room, bedroom and its own bathroom. Each room is well ventilated, with large windows. Because there is no electricity on the island, the fans are solar powered.

Filipino guests who grew up in the city and overseas visitors who want to experience life in the country, while still being not too far from Manila will find a quiet place to rest and relax when they come to our resort and every time they share our ocean views. At Isla there is no pollution from vehicles. You can enjoy riding a bicycle or walking to a neighbouring village, or even jogging while you breathe the fresh air enriched with oxygen by the green plants and trees on the island.

Near the shore we have places with seats where you can play chess, or just sit and enjoy a tropical sunset across the Verde Island Passage. Or maybe you would take advantage of a clear night sky and use our telescope to view the moon and stars.

Rain or shine, we will make sure we provide great service to those who visit our resort.

Monday, 20 October 2014

October has been another busy month at the Resort. There has been more
landscaping of paths and gardens, and the animals and birds are
growing.

Accommodation is being built again. The first two of the studio style
accommodation units are progressing nicely with all the bricks being
made on site by hand in concrete moulds.

And two more Kubos (traditional Nipa Huts) are finished. This means
four of the planned ten huts will be available for visitors. In fact we
should soon have some overseas guests.

We have described before that the Kubos are a traditional style of
accommodation that has been a part of Filipino life for centuries. Isla
Verde Tourist Friendly Resort is planned around a low impact lifestyle
that is culturally authentic.

A nipa hut may only be small, but it can sleep up to four people.
Filipino guests know all about the Kubo. Their kids are taught about it in one of the first traditional folk songs they learn.

For
Australian, Continental or British tourists, think of it like a bamboo
and palm Caravan or CamperVan accommodation, parked in a beautiful
place. I guess Americans would say it is like a small Trailer :-)

You have a beautiful sheltered area to sit and enjoy the breeze and the
island, and a closed sleeping area. The raised sleeping platform is
traditionally made from bamboo slats.

The picture on the right does not show the bedding supplied to guests. It is just to show the size of the sleeping area. Enough room to stretch out comfortably.

The Cafe is also looking nice and has been popular. More decoration has
been done and it is now an inviting and relaxing place to be.

At Isla Verde Tourist Friendly Resort we are trying to have a low impact on the ecology of Isla Verde, while we offer overseas guests a chance to have a holiday where they can experience the real Filipino lifestyle, rather than fancy airconditioned city hotels and bright lights.

We hope also that our Filipino guests will have the chance to come as family groups and let their younger kids experience life on an island while still only being a few hours from Manila.

With no vehicle traffic on the islands it is a good place for the kids to enjoy healthy activities like walking, playing and swimming.

For the adults, there is hiking, swimming, snorkeling, diving (can be arranged), fishing and other activities. Or just relaxing without the constant sounds of the city.

Thursday, 9 October 2014

September starts the ber month, as we say here. This is the time when everybody starts
decorating and cleaning their houses, in preparation for Christmas.

But at the resort there is not much time for Christmas preparations yet because there is still so much work to complete.

We
have started building the first of our units, and hopefully, in November, we can
entertain our first guests. The workers have been busy making all the bricks by hand and now the walls are getting higher.

We have also built some more statues for the gardens, here in the resort. The statues and sculptures add something to see amongst the gardens and landscaping.

We have done some more in the interior of our nipa huts, to make our guests feel at home as
they stay here in our resort, and now we, we are decorating our cafe.

The cafe is looking more inviting and is already becoming a popular place.

Our animals and birds are happy and everywhere around us there is life and beauty slowly beginning to show through amongst the construction.

Friday, 5 September 2014

August snd it is stil the Habagat. A month with heavy monsoon rain and big waves here in Isla verde. People will stock up on their food, especially rice, as often there are no boats travelling to the mainland, Batangas. But still we enjoy our place.

Sometimes, to pass the time when it was too wet to do any work, I played sungka with our worker, ninio. It is a native game, I used to play when I was small.

Sungka (pronounced SOONG-kah) is a game played on a solid wooden block (board) with two rows of seven circular holes and two large holes at both ends called "head".

The game begins with 49 game pieces (shells, marbles, pebbles or seeds) equally distributed to alternate holes - seven pieces in every other hole - except "heads" which remain empty. Sungka requires two players. Each player controls the seven holes on his side of the board and owns the "head" to his right. The goal is to accumulate as many pieces in your own "head".

The first player removes all pieces from the hole on the extreme left of on his side. He then distributes them anti-clockwise --- one in each hole to the right of that hole --- omitting an opponent's "head" but not a player's own "head".

If the last piece falls into an occupied hole then all the pieces are removed from that hole, and are distributed in the same way (to the right of that hole) in another round. This player's (current) turn ends when the last piece falls into an empty hole on the opponent's side.

If the last piece distributed falls into a player's own "head" the player earns another turn, which can begin at any of the seven holes on his side.

If the last piece distributed falls into an empty hole on his side the player captures all the pieces in the hole directly across from this one, on the opponent's side and put them (plus the last piece distributed) in his own "head". If the opposing hole is empty, no pieces are captured.

The other player chooses which hole he wishes to start from, removes the pieces and distributes them - one in each hole to the right of that chosen hole. If a player has no pieces on his side of the board when it is his turn, then he must pass.

The game ends when no pieces are left in any hole on both sides of the board. The players now count the number of pieces in their own "head" and see who has won.

In August, we had inspectors from zoning and fire protection, who inspected our resort for permit and occupancy. They love our place. They say they found peace and a nice ambiance. They enjoyed the food we served to them, and now we have our certificate for our permit. They promised to come with their friends and partners, when the resort operates.

We had another special visitor in August.
Maymay will be in the Guiness Book of Records for the intricate tattoos covering her whole body and face.

We also bought 2 ponies in Parang.

Because of the Habagat we could not use the boat to go to the nearest
sitio near Parang, so from the resort, we walked and passed trails, from
Gabihan, Lucban, Pajo and Subukin.

I experienced climbing through the rocks, where I needed to balance myself. We also passed some cliffs, and when we reached the top of Parang, we enjoyed seeing the pasture land on top if the mountain.

There are houses in Parang, and people were planting corn and some veggies. I took photos of a woman weaving buli for making bags. People in Parang are productive and hard working. And the place is so clean and green. It is one of the many interesting places to see on Isla Verde.

Work at the resort is still going on. We have more pathways built and more walls. The place looks more beautiful and cooler to stay. We are starting to build our units now, for accomodation.